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Pedestrians in the Desert for 40 Years?

This evening marks the beginning of Pesach, or Passover, the Jewish festival celebrating the exodus from Egypt. This is the first time I have celebrated Pesach in Israel, and Devin and I will spend most of the day cooking, removing all leavened bread from our apartment and preparing for the Seder.

My office closed for the week yesterday, so I am officially on vacation! At lunch, my co-worker, Nellie, made an interesting statement. Nellie is an architect who made Aliyah with her family from Russia. She has been teaching me to speak Hebrew (with a Russian accent) and I have been teaching her English (with a southern accent). Last summer, one of the words we exchanged was 'pedestrian.' I was very pleased to see that six months later, she still uses it regularly.... and creatively. We all had a nice giggle yesterday when she commented,

"The Jewish people were pedestrians in the desert for 40 years. That is why we celebrate pesach."

To which my boss replied,

"Yes, Nellie, we were pedestrians in the desert for 40 years."

Pedestrians? Maybe it wasn't the perfect word to describe the plight of Israel during that season, but it does put it in a different light. Especially for anyone who has been a pedestrian for an extended period of time, who knows the ache of sore feat, and the dependency on others to offer a ride!

Chag Sameach and Blessings to you on this Pesach season!

Resources:For more information about how to celebrate a Messianic Seder, I found websites here and here.